Here's a driving tip that could save a life, or maybe just put a buck in your pocket. Starting Sunday, Aug. 28, and continuing through Sept. 10, local volunteers will be handing out $1 bills to drivers who have all occupants buckled up securely in their vehicle.

Golfers were calling Great Bend Police Chief Dean Akings "Payne" - as in Payne Stewart - Friday at the Club at StoneRidge. Akings and his fellow team members emulated the late golf pro Stewart by wearing old-style bloomers and tam-o-shanters for the annual Law Enforcement Valor Awards Golf Tournament.

BARTON COUNTY - The Communities That Care data, which is a survey of 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th graders from across the state, has been released from the 2010-11 school year for Barton County. Some good news is reported in data.

If you drive up to Galatia some day and stop by the local cemetery, and you look around at the old headstones there, you may notice an old, old bed of flowers that could seem like something you'd have seen at your great-grandmother's house. And if it seemed that way to you, you would be right, because the bed of irises is just about that old.

When a teenage mother was in danger of losing her home because it was not painted, Great Bend Police Chief Dean Akings worked alongside other high school students to help paint her house. Now the Kansas Juvenile Officers Association has recognized the role Akings plays in programs for the community's youth by presenting him with the Law Enforcement Administrator of the Year Award.

Seth Converse Stevens sent text messages with sexual content to one of his female students when he was a teacher at Ellinwood High School in 2009, Assistant County Attorney Amy Mellor said Thursday in Barton County District Court.

EL DORADO – A last-minute fund-raising campaign has saved a southeast Kansas ranch that has served as a camp for thousands of people with cerebral palsy and other disabilities, at least for now. The Kansas Cerebral Palsy Ranch was slated to go on the auction block Saturday, Aug. 27.

As a lot of people have found out, expensively, with the rise in popularity of home electrical generators for emergencies, there is more involved in setting a building up with a gas-powered generator than just cranking one up when the power goes out.

Articles by Section - News

The long-running campaign to clean up Veterans Memorial Lake took another step forward Monday night when the Great Bend City Council approved the application of a chemical jolt to help eliminate the toxic blue-green algae.

The Great Bend City Council Monday night approved a resolution allowing the transfer of funds for the Great Bend Public Library heating and air conditioning system loan. The amount being transferred is $762,012.92.

Monday, March 2, was "Read Across America Day". This year, the book is the Seuss classic, "Oh, The Places You'll Go." At Hoisington Middle School several activities were planned such as crazy sock day, guess the number of gold fish in a bowl, dress like your favorite Seuss character, etc.

Students at Lincoln Elementary school arrived at school Monday morning dressed in the costumes of beloved book characters. Hours of work went into preparations for the school's celebration of Dr. Seuss's birthday. The popular children's author would be 111 years old this year.

A lengthy discussion over the replacement of a heating and air conditioning system in the Barton County Road and Bridge Department shop ended in a stalemate at the County Commission meeting Monday morning.

A 40-plus-year-old arrangement between the City of Great Bend and Barton County over the cost to house inmates in the Barton County Jail has been revised, Sheriff Brian Bellendir told the Barton County Commission Monday morning.

This is Severe Weather Awareness Week 2015, and to mark its importance to the safety of area residents, the Barton County Commission Monday morning approved a resolution denoting this observance locally.

The Barton Community College Foundation will kick off its Annual Academic Enrichment Fund Campaign, "Changing Lives – One Gift at a Time," on Sunday, March 1. Lifelong area residents and supporters of the college Gary and Anna Burke will serve as honorary co-chairs for the month-long fundraising drive.

With spring approaching, Great Bend will participate in the statewide tornado drill on Tuesday. That will also be the date for the annual presentations of "Storm Fury on the Plains," a weather and storm safety program.

Barton Natural Gas student James Mayes, 29, is knee-deep in his coursework to become a member of the natural gas industry, but he has always had the desire to be on stage. He found a way to do both and is a cast-member for the upcoming Barton Community College Theatre Spring Musical "Godspell," which opens Thursday at the college's Fine Arts Auditorium. The musical is at 7:30 p.m. March 5, 6, 7 and at 2 p.m. March 8.